These are diary entries that I wrote throughout my ten-day Sojourn to the Past trip on February 14-23. Each entry is posted here two weeks after it was originally written, due to the provision that I didn’t have any computer or internet access during my trip. Be sure to check out my other Sojourn to the Past coverage. Enjoy.

Today was our fourth and last day in Atlanta, marking the end of the “slow” part of the trip. We got to meet a number of people today, and then took the three hour drive to Selma, Alabama (gaining an hour in the process, courtesy of the genius invention of time zones).

We started out the morning learning about the Rev. Jim Reeb, who was killed in Selma by a Klan member on the evening of Tuesday, March 9th, 1965. He was a white minister in the movement and his death attracted national attention. We then got to meet Rev. Clark Olsen (who was a minister in Berkeley, by the way), who was walking next to Jim Reeb when they were attacked. It was very interesting getting to hear him tell us about his experiences during the movement.

We then went back to the King Center in Atlanta for a third time, and had the opportunity to go through their gift shop. This shop is the only place where you can purchase recordings of every speech Dr. King ever made, and between that and some other things, I wound up spending $75 there.

Then, at the auditorium in King Center, we met Congressman John Lewis (D-GA). He was the chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the sixties, and had been co-leader of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma on March 7, 1965. He was a very interesting and informational speaker, and he was a true first hand witness and participant in the Civil Rights Movement. He talked about his roles in the movement as well as the other people he worked with, many of whom have been martyred. It was particularly great to be able to personally meet him and shake his hand at the end of the presentation.

After that, we had the three hour drive to Selma, which mostly served the purpose of me taking a nap and getting some of the homework done.

We’re rooming tonight in the St. James Hotel in Selma, which dates to the 1880s and is right next to the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge (more on that tomorrow). Our group is so large (and this place relatively small) that we’re taking up the entire hotel tonight. However, we had an awesome dinner that actually tasted like real food, and that was awesome. We then concluded the day with a lesson on the entire Selma voting rights movement.

Tomorrow will be a sixteen hour day with a lot going on. We’ll be having a walking tour of Selma, including walking over the bridge, and then move on to Montgomery, where we will be going out to a number of museums and memorials, getting in at 11:00. I’m rearing up for a big day…

Tags: Atlanta, Clark Olsen, diaries, Jim Reeb, John Lewis, Montgomery, Selma, Sojourn to the Past, speakers, voting rights movement

These are diary entries that I wrote throughout my ten-day Sojourn to the Past trip on February 14-23. Each entry is posted here two weeks after it was originally written, due to the provision that I didn’t have any computer or internet access during my trip. Be sure to check out my other Sojourn to the Past coverage. Enjoy.

Today was another long day packed full of things. Some were good, some were so-so, and some were positively awestriking. (I think I’m going to run out of adjectives by this time next Saturday.)

This morning began with the most touching lesson for me thus far: a lesson on Robert “Bobby” Kennedy. He was attorney general under JFK in 1961-1965, a senator from New York in 1965-1968, and a presidential candidate in 1968. After we learned about how he came to fame, we learned about the humanitarian efforts that he did as a senator and how he brought attention to poor people and starving children in the country. We learned about how his campaign formed an unprecedented following in the country, and finally how he was shot the evening of June 4, 1968 (just two months after Dr. King) and died two days later. It’s intriguing to think about how our country might have been different had he survived and became president in 1968 instead of Richard Nixon.

After that, we had a workshop that was co-led by one of the Sojourn teachers and by Minnijean Brown-Trickey. The workshop was about institutionalized racism, and discussing the prevalence of racism in many places today, albeit more subtly. The workshop seemed kind of so-so to me though, partly because we had to sit on the floor throughout, but also because the other students often went off on a tangent or were peacefully arguing over a technicality.

We went to a food court in a big Atlanta mall for dinner, and we were given an allowance to spend on whatever meal we wanted. It might have been better if it was later than 4:30–we had just had lunch at 1:00. However, I did get to try dinner at a place with the most interesting french fries I’ve ever seen: they looked kinda like the Chex breakfast cereal, except more 2-D, and appropriately bigger than the cereal.

After that, we went back to the MLK Historic Site, and saw a film about Dr. King’s last day on earth, including listening to and analyzing Bobby Kennedy’s speech that night in Indianapolis. We passed by Ebenezer Baptist Church and took some pictures (we would have gone inside if it wasn’t under renovation), and finally, we ended the day at the gravesites of Dr. King and Coretta Scott King, where we had a moment of reflection.

Tomorrow will be a big day when we will meet and hear from Rev. Clark Olsen and Congressman John Lewis, and then move along into Selma. It is now time for curfew, so good night.

Tags: Atlanta, Bobby Kennedy, Coretta Scott King, diaries, Dr. King, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Georgia, gravesite, Minnijean Brown-Trickey, Sojourn to the Past, workshop

These are diary entries that I wrote throughout my ten-day Sojourn to the Past trip on February 14-23. Each entry is posted here two weeks after it was originally written, due to the provision that I didn’t have any computer or internet access during my trip. Be sure to check out my other Sojourn to the Past coverage. Enjoy.

Today was another long day. After our 8 AM breakfast, we started with what was titled “The longest lesson of our life.” Personally, I’m not sure of the validity of that statement, but I thought that it was certainly worth it. The lesson was about the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 and about the Little Rock Nine’s integration of Little Rock Central High School. We met each of the nine (through a movie) and were introduced to their struggle to get into Central and what they endured. We then went into how the students there could permit such atrocities hapening in their school, and thus, the dangers of being a silent witness.

Then, Minnijean Brown-Trickey (one of the Little Rock Nine) spoke. She talked about how a lot of what goes down in history is unimportant to teenagers because the historians are old people, and she discussed how the events surrounding the Nine were really a fight about who had the power and the law: state government or the federal government. She then answered some questions, and then we did a “give back” session, where we shared with Minnijean the words we used to describe her and why.

We then had a lesson on Medgar and Myrlie Evers, who were voting rights leaders from Mississippi. We learned about the deplorable voting rights laws in Mississippi and learned about the horrendous things that its state government did to spy and cause the systematic killing of black voters and their sympathizers. It was shocking and amazing to learn that the same things that this country criticized Nazi Germany, China, and the Soviet Union for took place here in this country.

Finally, after dinner, we went to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Museum. We had exclusive access there tonight, and got to take a very close look at the six major exhibits there: Segregation, The King Family, Call to Lead, Visiting the Mountain Top, Expanding the Dream, and Overcoming Loss. It was a very interesting and very interactive museum, with lots of pictures, words, and videos. We were also permitted to take pictures, which you’ll be able to see on my Flickr account once I get them posted.

Tomorrow we’re in for another lesson-filled day at the hotel, but already, in only two days, I have learned so much, and am looking forward to what’s still to come.

Tags: Arkansas, Atlanta, Central High School, civil rights, diaries, Dr. King, Georgia, history, King Center, Little Rock, Little Rock Nine, Medgar Evers, Minnijean Brown-Trickey, Mississippi, Myrlie Evers, Sojourn to the Past, Sovereignty Committee, voting rights

These are diary entries that I wrote throughout my ten-day Sojourn to the Past trip on February 14-23. Each entry is posted here two weeks after it was originally written, due to the provision that I didn’t have any computer or internet access during my trip. Be sure to check out my other Sojourn to the Past coverage. Enjoy.

Today was the first day of Sojourn, and boy, it was a long one. I was up at 2:30 AM this morning in order to shower and get ready, including last minute packing. (As usual, I forgot something…this time is was the shampoo.) We got to the airport a little after 4:00, and our flight went smoothly, arriving on time at around 1:45 PM (Eastern time now).

We had some assignments to start on the flight. I finished the assignment on Minnijean Brown-Trickey (which will be due tomorrow morning in order to meet her). I also finishesd up the reading on John Lewis, though I need to do that assignment still (due on Sunday).

Once we got through the airport, on the buses, to the hotel, and checked in, it was about 3:45 PM and we went into the meeting room for a lesson on the 1963 March on Washington. This included an introduction to the principles of nonviolence (which Dr. King wrote, by the way), in addition to talking about how that march was organized. We then looked in depth at the speeches made that day by John Lewis (SNCC) and Dr. King (SCLC). It was indeed an interesting lesson and helped to better expand the significance of that march to me.

After dinner, we went to Stone Mountain, which is pretty much the Confederate equivalent of Mount Rushmore, featuring carvings of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. After we took some pictures, we read quotes from John Lewis’ book, and then we played Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, reflecting it off of the mountain. We then had time to reflect on the seventeen minutes of that speech and what we felt listening to it.

Personally, I thought about the contrast between the figures carved in the mountain, who represented force, and violence, and destruction, versus Dr. King’s message of nonviolence, kindness, and calling for doing constructive things, to come together as a people. To me, it was a very profound, touching moment.

Right now, I’m writing this in the hotel lobby and socializing with other folks on the trip. There’s 150 students here representing about a dozen schools from the Bay Area, the Los Angeles area, and the New York area. I’m already very glad that I’m here and am looking forward to a good trip.

Tags: Atlanta, Confederacy, diaries, Dr. King, Georgia, Mount Rushmore, Sojourn to the Past, Stone Mountain